Types of honey

ABOUT BHARAT UNANI PHARMACY

Bharat Unani Pharmacy has been in the honey business since 1986. With honesty and hard work, we have developed a reliable network across the country for direct collection of honey. Our team members personally visit to collect raw honey directly from the source. We believe in supplying honey in unaltered condition with retained bee pollens, which is a rich source of nutrition in honey.

Bharat Unani Pharmacy has a world-class honey processing unit with state-of-the-art technology to handle this heat-sensitive, precious and noble food.

We are well aware of honey adulterations in the market. Invert sugar, high fructose corn syrup and Chinese rice syrup are the most advanced honey adulterants present in the market. They not only pass the age-old physical methods (conventional methods) of testing honey but also a few preliminary chemicals or laboratory tests. That is why they are sold comfortably by many small and big brands. These adulterants are manufactured and sold at industrial scale in the name natural honey.

1.    About Multiflora honey: Multiflora BHARAT HONEY is natural honey collected from different forest areas of INDIA, where many types of flowers are present. BHARAT HONEY is 100% natural with retained bee pollens; it is a rich source of nutrition. It can be used in herbal medicines as it is not unduly processed. We travel across India to collect honey directly from the source.

It is available with Government AGMARK seal.

Available packings: 1kg, 500gms, 200gms, 100gms.

2.      About Jamun honey: Jamun honey is collected from areas where more than 50% area is covered by jamun (Indian blackberry) plantation. Jamun honey (Eugenia jambolina or syzium cumini L) is amber-to-dark-amber in colour, astringent taste and hard aroma, makes it unique honey. This bitter tasting honey is also rich in bee pollens. Jamun is said to have benefits for diabetic patients.

Available packings: 500gms, 200gms

3.      About Sidr honey: Sidr Honey is very popular in gulf countries. It is commonly known worldwide as Yemeni sidr honey. It is actually a variety of honey collected in areas of wild jujubee plantations. Apart from having unique taste and aroma, it is said to have unique nutritional and medicinal value. It increases stamina and defence power of the body.

Available packings: 500gms, 200gms

4.      About small bee KASHMIR HONEY: This honey is collected directly from hilly regions of Kashmir valley. It is 100% organic in nature as there is no human intervention. Kashmir valley does not have Apis dorsata (rock bee honey), hence procurement is solely from small bees. It is famous for its unique taste and aroma which is at par with any other variety of honey available in India. Because of its organic nature, it is a favourite honey for any herbal formulations.

Available packings: 1kg, 500gms, 200gms 

What is honey?

Honey is a natural sweet liquid made by the honeybees. Honeybees visit flowers, suck nectar and convert them into honey by natural process. Colour, consistency, aroma (smell) and taste vary according to the source of the flower. Honey has many micro elements which are highly beneficial for the human body. Honey has a long history of human consumption. It is highly popular in various ancient systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Unani, Chinese medicines, Naturopathy etc. It also has a role in religion and symbolism.

Honey production: Honeybees are present everywhere in the world. They are present in forest areas, agriculture areas and even urban areas where plants and trees are present. We can’t imagine a world without honeybees. Honeybees are a compulsory need of the ‘‘plant world’’ for pollination. It is Nature’s process to transfer pollen grains from one flower to another, without which a plant or tree can’t survive.

Human beings extract honey by two processes:

1) By directly breaking the beehives formed by the bees. 

2) By domesticating (Honeybees are given a readymade home) and migrating them to different forest areas, and extracting honey without damaging hives.

Honey production in India: India has the largest varieties of plants and trees which cover around 24.1% of total geographical area (around 7,89,200 sq. km). Total honey production is around 70,000 tonnes per year out of which 25,000 tonnes are exported. Major export is of mustard honey.

Honey adulteration in India: Demand of honey in India is more than the production; a lot of adulterated honey is freely sold in the market even in the branded segment. The most common adulterant is Invert sugar syrup (which is produced at industrial scale with the intention to be sold in the name of honey); others are ‘‘liquid glucose’’ and imported ‘‘high fructose corn syrup’’. The more recent one is Rice syrup imported from China.

How is fake honey sold in India?

Fake and adulterated honey is easily sold in India because people have less knowledge and many myths related to honey, and people rely on the conventional method of testing honey. Fake honey sold in the Indian market has the same physical nature as honey; it is thick and shiny (because of the absence of pollen grains). It does not granulate even if refrigerated. Therefore people think it to be good quality honey. Natural honey granulates but fake honey does not. Sometimes natural honey is rejected because of lack of knowledge and myths. Therefore, in India, fake honey is sold by many small and big brands very comfortably.

What is Beekeeping or Apiary Honey?

There are two types of honeybees which are used in beekeeping - Apis Mellifera and Apis Cerena Indica. Both bees make comb in dark places (inside hollow trees, rocks or soil). Beekeepers give them a ready-made home called bee box where bees store honey. Beekeepers extract honey from these combs hygienically and keep the combs back without disturbing the comb so that bees can fill it again. Beekeepers keep migrating to different forest areas to cover all flowering seasons year long to collect more honey.

How to identify honey adulteration?

As honey from different areas will have different colour, taste and aroma, it is almost impossible to identify honey just by the taste. Also the conventional method of testing honey judges only its physical nature. Almost all adulterated honey passes these conventional tests as they copy physical nature perfectly. The only reliable method to identify adulteration in honey is a laboratory test (chemical test).

Where can we get honey tested?

CBRTI (Centre for Bee’s Research and Training Institute) Pune, is the centre for testing honey in India. There are also State food laboratories in every state, run by the government and many private laboratories.

Types of Honeybees in India: There are 5 types of honeybees present in India.

APIS DORSATA: (Rock bee, the largest of all): They make big hives, the ones which we notice often on rocks, big buildings, and big trees. A full-size hive may have around 10 to 20 kgs of honey. These can’t be domesticated as they form hives in open places.

APIS MELLIFERA: This is smaller than the Dorsata bee. It was brought from Italy for domesticating in India. As it makes hives in close and dark places, it is given a readymade house called bee box, where it collects honey. These bee boxes are migrated frequently from one forest to another to cover flowering seasons. Honey is extracted hygienically from the boxes without disturbing the hives.

APIS CERENA INDICA: This is Indian native bee. This is also domesticated but the capacity of collecting honey is less than Mellifera.

APIS FLOREA: These are honeybees which form small hives on branches of trees.

APIS TRIGONA: This is the smallest honeybee which produces sour honey.

Types of Honey: Honey is classified in 3 ways:

1) According to the source of the flower:

Honey extracted from the region where 50% area is covered by one type of flower is called as UNIFLORA HONEY; otherwise it is called as MULTIFLORA HONEY. (Different types of UNIFLORA HONEY available in India: Eucalyptus Honey, Jamun Honey, Karanj Honey, Ajwain Honey, White clover Honey, Sweet neem (kadipatta) Honey, Wild jujube (Sidr) Honey, Acacia Honey, Solai Honey, Jhanti Honey, Coriander Honey, etc.)

2) According to processing and packing:

ULTRA FILTERED HONEY - Honey is subjected to high heat and finest filter, removing all essential particles like bee pollen. Such filtered honey is suitable for supermarket sales as it has a lesser tendency to crystallize and appears more attractive. But its nutritional and medicinal value is compromised. It may be called as denatured Honey. Many big brands sell this type of honey.

STRAINED HONEY (Bharat Honey) - Honey is subject to filter only to remove wax or big particles retaining its nutritional and medicinal properties. Such honey is ideal for medicinal use. Strained honey is more likely to granulate as it is in its most natural form.

CRYSTALLIZED HONEY - Honey is sold in the granulated form which is good for table purpose, can be applied easily on bread, etc. Honey is deliberately crystallized to form more uniform crystals.

3) SQUEEZED HONEY and APIARY HONEY (Beekeeping honey):

Squeezed Honey – Honey extracted by breaking the comb directly and squeezed in a cloth.

Apiary Honey - Comb frame is placed in the honey extractors and rotated. Honey comes out due to centrifugal force. Combs will be placed back in the bee box. At room temperature, honey is a supercooled liquid in which the natural dextrose will precipitate slowly into solid granules. This process is called crystallization or granulation of honey. Within a few weeks or months after extraction, many varieties of Indian origin honey granulate into solid crystals or cream form. The fastest process of granulation is seen in Mustard Honey (major crop in India). It will turn into solid honey within a week; therefore, almost 90% production of Mustard Honey is exported to USA and Europeans countries where crystallized honey is not considered to be adulterated. Apart from variety, crystallization also depends on atmospheric temperature. Lower the temperature faster is the process of crystallization. Hence, it is always advised not to keep honey in the refrigerator. Read any label of honey; you will find this.

DON'T REFRIGERATE HONEY. HONEY TENDS TO CRYSTALIZE. TO LIQUIFY CRYSTALLIZED HONEY KEEP IN WARM WATER OR SUNLIGHT.

Crystallization doesn't affect the taste or quality of honey. Indeed it is a natural process by which honey preserves itself and remains edible for centuries. Honey found in Egyptian caves was in crystallized form. It was suitable for human consumption even after thousands of years. Crystallization can be delayed by proper processing and filtering, but it but can’t be stopped. Because of the strong myth against granulation in India and Gulf countries, many commercial brands denature honey to stop crystallization. Heavy processing and addition of anti-granulating agents will remove its nutritional and medicinal properties and even may cause health hazards.

MYTH: Pure honey is not or rarely available these days.

FACT: Production of natural honey in India is 70,000 tonnes per year out of which 25,000 tonnes of honey is exported.

MYTH: Honey can easily be tested for its purity by conventional methods like--

      a) Slowly dropping honey in a glass of water; pure honey settles at the bottom.

      b) The dog will not eat bread applied with pure honey.

      c) Cotton wet in honey will not carbon smoke when burnt.

      d) Ants will not get attracted towards pure honey.

FACT: Conventional method of testing can only identify physical nature. All the fake and adulterated honey available these days can pass all these tests easily. Pure honey can only be identified in food laboratories.

MYTH: Pure honey doesn't crystallize or granulate. Crystallized honey is fake or adulterated. 

FACT: This is the most popular myth in India and Gulf countries. Crystallization of honey is a natural phenomenon which depends on:

              (a) Variety of honey (source of flowers)

              (b) Atmospheric temperature

              (c) Presence of pollens and other particles

Pure crystallized honey can easily be re-liquefied by keeping in warm water or sunlight. Crystallization doesn't affect the quality of honey.

MYTH: Apiary Honey or Beekeeping Honey is artificial and has no medicinal value.

FACT: Honey produced by beekeepers is the same or in some way superior to the squeezed honey collected by tribals. (Reason: more hygienic, combs not destroyed, free from remnants of bee’s larvae and dust).

MYTH: Light coloured and thick honey is of superior quality.

FACT: Colour of natural honey ranges from light watery colour to dark amber, which depends on the source of flower and pollen content. Irrespective of colour, all types of honey have almost the same nutritional and medicinal value. Honey contains moisture level ranging 18-25 % depending on the time and season of harvesting. Lesser the moisture thicker will be the honey. Few brands deliberately thicken honey to be more appealing in the market.